Democrats Hillary Clinton, Andrew Cuomo May Battle In 2016

While many voters haven’t even begun to focus on November’s presidential election yet, some pundits already are speculating that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo will face off for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2016.

It’s unclear whether Clinton, who lost the 2008 nomination to Barack Obama and has said she is through with politics, will run again. “That’s the $64 billion question,” John Catsimatidis, a major New York bundler for Clinton and a supporter of Cuomo for governor, told Politico. “I don’t know, and I don’t think anyone does.”

Major Democratic donors assume Cuomo will run if he can, the news service reports. Cuomo spoke publicly about the possibility of a presidential bid for the first time Wednesday, doing nothing to stamp out speculation that he will run.

“In one regard, the speculation is flattering,” he said. “On the other hand, . . . it can be totally distracting. Once you start saying, ‘let’s talk political, my own politics, my own aspirations,’ it can become not just distracting in that it takes time, but it can become confusing and frustrating. Is this now a political agenda or a governmental agenda?”

Cuomo will be reluctant to run if Clinton steps into the ring, says former New York City Deputy Mayor Bill Lynch. “I think he’ll think twice about going against her,” the Democrat told Politico. “He’s still a young man and could wait around awhile . . . I think that she is very popular around the country right now.”

Lynch said that if Clinton does opt to run, she will have a decided fundraising advantage.

“Who knows how to raise money better than the Clintons?” he said. Not many, but Cuomo has proven quite adept at fundraising himself, and his donors might not be too eager to alienate a sitting governor.

Not everyone agrees that a Clinton run would keep Cuomo out of the race. “By 2016, if he were to decide that he wanted to run, I think it would be very hard for anyone to derail him,” former New York Democratic Gov. David Paterson told Politico.